Kansas City Confidential [Blu-ray] [Import]

Excellent noir. The cinematography is classic noir, with assured useage of shadow and light, foreground and background and tight close-ups. The action is gritty and realistic, with the slapping around looking positively brutal and much more frightening than the current movie industry standard of blood splattered gore fests. Mr Elam, in fact, was probably cast because of how pathetic he looked being beaten up! The story revolves around two set-ups, one intended and one a secondary effect. "This is America?" my husband queried as our innocent hero is "worked over" in the Kansas City jailhouse. The action moves south to Mexico where our hero pursues the true criminals in order to clear his name. The extent of the crime and the reasons for it as well as the set up are all eventually revealed in the small Mexican fishing village that is too small to hold all these hot tempered men. The pace slows down noticeably in the village, the only major flaw in this otherwise crackerjack film noir which must have influenced every current young urban crime-film director. Highly recommended.

United Artists presents "KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL" (11 November 1952) (99 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- A hard-hitting film noir about a bitter ex-cop who arranges an armored car robbery with a phony florist's delivery truck -- Framed for the robbery, the driver of the real florist's truck, a hero in the war, hunts down the men who set him up to get his share of the loot, revenge or, if possible, a combination of the two -- It is generally agreed that Quentin Tarantino must have seen this movie before scripting Reservoir Dogs.

Here's part of the plot - Tim Foster (Preston Foster) recruits three criminals to help him rob an armored truck- Pete Harris (Jack Elam), Boyd Kane (Neville Brand), and Tony Romano (Lee Van Cleef) --- All star "Noirish" cast of characters and it's right up there with some outstanding dialogue film noir style.

One of the best John Payne noir films -- Definitely entertaining and you can watch this over and over again, catching some scenes you may have missed for full enjoyment -- In many of his films he was an ordinary-guy protagonists in the noir cycle -- Payne is tough, all right, but still shows the flop-sweat of fear; and he's smart, too, but because he's forced to be - what he's trying to hang onto is all he's got, that's gotta be noir at it's best.

Under the production staff of:
Phil Karlson [Director]
George Bruce [Screenplay]
Harry Essex [Screenplay]
Harold Greene [Story]
Rowland Brown [Story]
Edward Small [Producer]
Paul Sawtell [Original Music]
George E. Diskant [Cinematographer]
Buddy Small [Film Editor]

BIOS:
1. Phil Karlson [Director]
Date of Birth: 2 July 1908 - Chicago, Illinois
Date of Death: 12 December 1985 - Los Angeles, California

2. John Payne
Date of Birth: 28 May 1912 - Roanoke, Virginia
Date of Death: 6 December 1989 - Malibu, California

the cast includes:
John Payne - Joe Rolfe
Coleen Gray - Helen Foster
Preston Foster - Tim Foster
Neville Brand - Boyd Kane
Lee Van Cleef - Tony Romano
Jack Elam - Pete Harris
Dona Drake - Teresa
Mario Siletti - Tomaso
Howard Negley - Scott Andrews
Carleton Young - Martin
Don Orlando - Diaz
Ted Ryan - Morelli

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 99 min on DVD ~ United Artists ~ (07/10/2007)

No need to comment on the story, it is engrossing. For a Gotham/Alpha release the sound and image quality is good, suprisingly good. Don't misunderstand, there is no crispness here. It's probably worth the money to purchase the Image version if the quality is better. There are some extras on Image version and none on the Gotham/Alpha version.